Piano Pedagogy

Students who wish to teach piano privately rather than preparing for schooling and a career in piano performance may find that a focus on Piano Pedagogy is just the thing for them. A focus on Piano Pedagogy is possible through the Open Studies curriculum. The music core (music theory, music history, conducting, ensemble, and major applied study), general education, and recital requirements are basically the same in Open Studies as they are for an instrumental performance major; there is, however, no secondary applied area.

The Piano Pedagogy focus includes 14 semester hours of recommended courses in piano pedagogy, jazz piano, advanced keyboard techniques, a practicum in piano teaching, plus Psychology (PSYC) 100 (4 semester hours) and Educational Psychology (EDPS) 211 (3 semester hours). Such courses develop undergraduates to their fullest potential as teachers while preparing students for independent studio teaching or for further study in pedagogy at the Master's level. Students have the opportunity to work with nationally recognized faculty in the fields of both piano teaching (pedagogy) and piano performance as a secondary emphasis.

In order to create space for such recommended courses, the student focusing on Piano Pedagogy should take at least three years of a single foreign language in high school. Additional space in one's semester-by-semester schedule is created by choosing general education courses that fulfill two or even three of the University's undergraduate general education requirements. By working closely with the Piano Pedagogy and Open Studies advisors before matriculating into the School of Music and throughout the curriculum, students will have a clear understanding of how such course selection will work to their advantage.

You may want to look further into the Open Studies curriculum elsewhere on this site.